We The Italians | What's up with WTI: Editorial # 131

What's up with WTI: Editorial # 131

Ciao from Rome! It's September, and the vacations are over.

Here at We the Italians we are preparing a surprise for the next Columbus Day, which will unite Italy and the United States online to celebrate Christopher Columbus. This year the American Columbus Day (the second Monday of October) and the Italian Columbus Day (again on October 12) coincide, and the lack of live events in the presence because of the covid-19 allows us to organize something online, with content from Italy and others from the United States. Stay tuned, we will let you know more soon, in the meantime save the date, October 12, 2020.

A few days ago I had the pleasure and the honor to participate in an episode of the Italian American Podcast, during which together with my dear friends John Viola, Rossella Rago and Pat O'Boyle we talked about the constitutional referendum on which Italians around the world vote on September 20 and 21. We also talked about the Italian system and the differences with the American system: those interested can go to this page and take an aspirin against headaches, always useful with Italian politics!

This month we have two new entries in the big family of We the Italians. The number of American states where we have someone who represents us rises to 7. Francesco Onorato is our representative in Arizona. Francesco is an Italian-born marketing, communications and business development consultant based in Phoenix, AZ. Raised in the Southern Italian town of Nardò, Francesco earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Arts in International Relations at Sapienza University of Rome. Passionate about the interaction between the Italian and American cultures, Francesco is constantly focused on connecting people and opportunities to promote the friendship of these two wonderful countries.

Thomas (but his Italian friends call him “Tommaso”) Gambino is our representative in Hawaii. Thomas was astonished to discover the commonality of culture shared between Italy and Hawaii. Family, friends, food, music etc play an important part in both people’s lives. He was pleased to have served as Vice President of the Friends of Italy Society of Hawaii, an association that features Italian language study, cooking classes and many social activities. Thomas was inspired early on as an Italian American to write a book entitled "The Scattered Italians". It is a saga filled with the gusto permeating the core issues of discovering our roots and who we are.

I hope you all have started watching the videos or listening to the audios of WetheItaliaNews, which started again in early September. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday there is a video pill that tells you what happens in Italy at the time of the coronavirus: a way for all of you to stay close to Italy now that it is difficult if not impossible for you to come and visit it, waiting to host you again in this magnificent, complicated and beautiful country.

Once again: please stay safe, please stay healthy. I won’t gonna stop saying this: the future’s so bright, we gotta wear shades! Ciao from Rome